WTH Summer Wednesday

I couldn't think of a more original title for this post.  

It's super hot.  We've only been to the pool once.  My fig tree is trying to die and we have only one day we can run our sprinklers here.  

I miss my Philmont campers.  I hope Hubby's heart and knee hold out.

We have no hot water since the pilot light on the water heater goes out every time it hits 100 outside. And it was over 100 degrees. every. single. day.  I'm not climbing up into my attic to re-light it.  Cold showers for all!

We've been eating out every meal except breakfast. It gets expensive and is not as fun as I thought.  Though lunch at Asia Cafe was good, as was dinner last week at BJ's Brewhouse.

 

Bubbie and I are so bored.  Tonight we are going to eat pizza at Alamo Drafthouse and watch the Lone Ranger. The Girl has a massive sinus infection that is not improving after a couple of weeks on various meds, including antibiotics.  I cannot get out of work to go with her to the ENT on Friday, so I hope the nurse will call me and update me.

This sweet old lady did that thing again where she plays one of her daughters against the other.  And I would love to discuss it with my other sister, except she will not answer her phone. 

I finally got my Chaco sandals with my $20 off coupon from The Girl.  They are just right for my "old lady" feet. These aren't meant for pretty - they're so I can wear something other than flip flops. I'm staying on top of chores, not much else.  And we have zero plans for tomorrow, other than to cut up a watermelon.  Hopefully we can get some fun in and watch some fireworks.

How's your week going?

Gina

Little project: Bubbie's desk

Seems like last week flew by and after reviewing my To Do list I discovered that I actually made progress. Bubbie, The Girl, and I aren't going to cook this week at all. Just going to continue enjoying our summer, and getting some little projects done, like last week's progress on the patio, and spiffing up his desk.

 Firstborn had outgrown this long ago but it's just the right size for Bubbie's room.  I paid around a little over $100 a few years ago for a solid wood bookcase headboard, nightstand, dresser, and desk. Not a bad deal for solid wood furniture.

 The desk just needed some touch up with satin finish black spray paint.

 I added a red placemat for the laptop to sit on.  There's a lot of black in this room, but it's well-lit. 

 Some stuff got moved around on the walls and I steam-cleaned the carpets.

 On to other projects!

Gina

Missing the boys

I did my darndest to stay busy this week while the boys were at camp.  

This is how Sunday at 4:45 a.m. looked - Philmonters bright and bushy-tailed on our way to the drop site. After dropping these two off on the other side of Austin, it was time to head home to get Bubbie up and at the park by 8 a.m. for his drop-off.  Here he is with his orange backpack looking ready to roll.  And then I headed in to work til 7:30 p.m.  Very anti-climatic.

So far, I've had no news since Monday from the the Philmont crew, but understand from a friend at Bear Creek that Bubbie is having a great time.  The biggest complaint?  The food.  Nothing like camp food to make you appreciate mom's cooking, right?

See you this afternoon, Bubbie.

Gina

Banana Jam

 We ran out of jam yesterday morning while eating the scones from a mix that Scout made me for Mother's Day, so jam-making got moved up on my list.  We made some berry jam straight from the Sure-Gel recipe booklet.  But I also wanted to make something a little different - something we've never tried before.  So, I dug out my favorite cookbook and found this gem:

Aunt Henry's Easy Banana Jam 
6 very ripe bananas, mashed
juice of 6 lemons
1 c. sugar per cup of banana and lemon mixture

Mix in 2 qt. saucepan and cook on low heat for one hour.  After an hour, I raised the heat and brought it to a boil for one minute, then poured into a sterilized canning jar and set it out to cool.  You can refrigerate or seal with parafin.

 Ummmm...chunks of sweet banana in banana jam!  

I have to say, its pretty good!

Gina

Lemon Cake

I had the best of intentions for making this cake for Father's Day, but intentions only get you so far when you've worked all day and can barely eat your dinner at 8 p.m. then fall into bed.  Such is the weekend life for me.

 This is another oldie and goodie from my MIL, Marie.  Years ago, she let me rifle through her recipe cards and pick the ones I wanted.  Can you imagine?  Like going through a treasure chest!

Lemon Cake
1 package yellow cake mix
1 c. apricot nectar
4 egg yolks, whites reserved
3/4 c. oil
2 T lemon extract

Preheat the oven to 350 and grease a Bundt pan.
Beat ingredients for about 5 minutes.  Stiffly beat the 4 egg whites and fold gently into batter.

 

Bake for 50 minutes.  Cool 10 minutes, invert onto plate and poke a few small holes in the top.  Mix 1 1/2 c. powdered sugar with the juice and grated rind of one lemon.  Pour over warm cake.  Cool and slice.

It was worth waiting until Monday night to bake - and even better to eat some with Tuesday breakfast!

Gina

Mealplan Monday #65 and Happy Campers

 

 Bubbie, ca. 2005

It's the second full week of summer vacay and GO week for my campers.  

Monday - Chicken Fajita Salad, chips and That Green Sauce
Tuesday - Creamy Italian Sausage with chard and pasta, garlic toast
Wednesday - Shrimp in garlic and lemon butter, coleslaw, corn, rolls
Thursday - Chili Nachos, avocado, tomato, green onion
Friday - Crock Pot Honey Garlic Chicken, mashed reds, green beans
Saturday - Grilled sausage wraps and the fixin's
Sunday - Fully Cooked Burgers, chips

 T minus 6 days until they leave for camp.

 It looks like this every year, so I'm used to it.

Gina

Goulash

 My mother is a great cook - and one who could make the most of leftover anything.

I want to share her "method" here for a meal using leftover roast or other meat - she always called it Goulash when I was growing up.

Start with the leftover meat (here I have Italian Drip Beef ), a potato per person, an onion, a bell pepper, about 1/2 c. ketchup, some steak sauce - your choice - and some seasoning. 

 Heat some olive oil to medium heat in a large pot - whatever you make stew in.

 Chunk up the potatoes and add them in, but don't stir them.  The potatoes will loosen from the pan in a few minutes and in the meantime, they will develop a browned, carmel-y crust.

 After the potatoes are browned a bit, add in the chunked up onion and bell pepper. 1 inch chunks are ok.  Add some garlic, too, if you like.

 Add the ketchup to the steak sauce then add enough water to make about 2 cups.  Season it up.  I used my seasoning blend. Season it up however you like - I recall hers being a little different each time.

You don't have to stir this a lot.  

You want the browned edges.

Add in the meat,

 pour in the sauce, lower the heat, and simmer, uncovered, while you make rolls.

 

Stir and serve, with a smile and a glass of sweet tea.

Gina